What Is a Malaphor?

We’ve all done it: You’re thinking about one thing, and then you decide to say another, creating a mishmash of words and syllables. Perhaps you were thinking “surprised” and then “excited,” so it came out of your mouth as “exprised.” Extend it to full phrases, and that’s how we get the humorous figure of speech called the malaphor.

And no, we didn’t misspell “metaphor.” Whereas a metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable, a malaphor twists up well-known phrasing to humorous effect. 

It’s a mashing together of two or more idioms into a single expression that is surprising or confusingly amusing. Take the common metaphors “burning bridges” and “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Mash them up as “burn that bridge when we come to it,” and we have a malaphor. It takes familiar phrasing and alters it, drawing attention to the incorrect wording. 

“Malaphor” is a literary term that combines “mal-,” meaning “bad,” with the Greek pherein, meaning “to carry, bear.” Put together, these two elements literally mean “to carry two distinct things, and doing so badly.” The word was coined by Lawrence Harrison in a 1976 Washington Post article titled “Searching for Malaphors.” His idea was to combine “metaphor” with “malapropism.”

A malapropism is an unintentional misuse of a word or phrase, usually to humorous effect. “Malapropism” derives from the name of Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 play, The Rivals, noted for her ridiculous misuse of words. Her name came from the French phrase mal à propos, meaning “inappropriately, inopportunely.”

The play has plenty of examples of Mrs. Malaprop misspeaking, including “He is the very pineapple [pinnacle] of politeness” and “She’s as headstrong as an allegory [alligator] on the banks of the Nile.”

One of Mrs. Malaprop’s descendants is Archie Bunker, the bigoted character in the 1970s sitcom All in the Family, who demonstrates crass malapropisms such as “patience is a virgin [virtue],” “a menstrual [minstrel] show,” and “I ain’t a man of carnival instinctuals [carnal instincts] like you.” The show used Bunker’s prejudiced views as a way to discuss important cultural issues, and the malapropisms were a needed humorous counterpoint.

The difference between a malapropism and a malaphor is the latter is created by blending two or more idioms or phrases, whereas the former substitutes a similar-sounding but different-meaning word for the correct one. 

“It’s not rocket surgery” combines “It’s not rocket science” and “It’s not brain surgery.”

“Don’t count your chickens in one basket” combines “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch” and “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

“We’re barking up the wrong horse” combines “We’re barking up the wrong tree” and “We’re betting on the wrong horse.”

“It tickled my fancy bone” combines “tickled my fancy” and “tickled my funny bone.”

Public figures, as well-spoken as they might be, have been caught blurting out malaphors. In a 2019 interview, U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi combined “hit the ground running” and “hit the nail on the head,” resulting in a confusing statement: “We’re going to hit the ground on the head.”  

More recently, Steve Blass, a retired Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and TV broadcaster, commented in a June 2025 interview on the ability of Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes to keep his focus during games: “He just keeps his head to the grindstone,” mixing “keep your nose to the grindstone” and “keep your head in the game.”

So the next time you can’t remember the exact wording of a phrase, or you mix up your idioms, now you can say you’re using a malaphor on purpose.